This year's 8th of August marks the Earth Overshoot Day, also known as the Ecological Debt Day. On this day we have used up all the resources that Earth produces in one year. We will so be living on a credit until the end of the year, creating an ecological debt. This debt translates into consumption of natural resource stocks, waste accumulation and environmental degradation. Our current consumption demands natural resources of 1.6 earths.

Humanity first went into debt on the 23rd of December in 1970. The earth overshoot day has been moving closer to January ever since. In 2006 the New Economics Foundation and the Global Footprint Network launched the Earth Overshoot Day initiative to raise awareness on this issue. The World Wildlife Fund has joined the campaign in 2007.

The date of the Earth Overshoot Day is obtained with a simple calculation: by dividing the world biocapacity (amount of resources produced by Earth in that year) with the world ecological footprint (amount of resources consumed by humanity in that year) and multiplying this number with days of that year. Getting the data for these calculations, on the other hand, is a more complex process. Past dates for Earth Overshoot Days may change in the future, as the methods for getting data change and are getting more accurate with each year.

Small changes could amount into greater ones. Following this motto the EOD initiative started the Pledge For The Planet campaign. By taking one (or more) of the six pledges you can try to reduce your consumption. In addition, you can help to promote the cause by sharing one of the posts designed by the initiative through your social media.

Read more on:
http://www.overshootday.org/
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/